Google cop out

[globalpi]

We wrot eto Google ( initially received a standard response) shouted a litte and then received the following. Yawn............

Hi Timothy,

Thank you for your note. We have located your site,
www.ukprivateinvestigators.com, within Google's search results at the
following link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...stigators.com+

Results in our index change regularly based on ongoing, automated
processes aimed at improving the quality and content of our search
results. The changes you describe are consistent with these fluctuations.
Our automatic processes sometimes cause dramatic shifts in the ranking or
indexing of sites. We are always working to improve the quality of our
search results and it is possible that your site will resume its previous
position during the next crawl.

We understand that this situation can be frustrating. However, as
mentioned earlier, these processes are completely automated and not
indicative of wrong-doing or penalization of individual sites.

While we cannot guarantee that your page will consistently appear in our
index or appear with a particular rank, we do offer guidelines for
building a "crawler-friendly" site. You can find these guidelines at
http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html . Following these
recommendations may increase the likelihood that your site will show up
consistently in Google search results.

For more information, please visit the webmaster section of our site at
http://www.google.com/webmasters/ . In an effort to better address your
needs, we've dedicated this entire section of our website to answering
common webmaster questions, listing Google's quality requirements and
recommendations, and much more.

We have also created a Google discussion group on Google Groups where
Google users and webmasters can connect to share their vast knowledge and
experience. You can access this group at
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=go...upport.general .

We hope that the information we have provided above is helpful to you.

Regards,
The Google Team

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
From: "UK Private Investigators" <globalpi@ukprivateinvestigators.com>
Subject: UK Private Investigators
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 10:19:59 -0000

Sirs,

Our website www.ukprivateinvestigators.com has been dropped from your
search results - even when searching for "UK Private Investigators." This
is the actual name of our business and not an attempt to "spam" your
index. The keywording on our site directly reflects our businesses name
and once again is NOT an attempt to spam the index.

[Rahvelle]

With all the monkey business going on at Google these days I did a little "shouting" of my own and would you believe it, but I got the same (and I mean exact) letter that you did. (substitute your url here...)

I know this stuff happens but the timing is evil. A month before Christmas and you're basking in your top 10 rank and suddenly you are not even in the top 100 anymore.

All advice is to "wait it out". Let's hope for next month and try not to go broke in the meatime.

[globalpi007]

Its happened to us AGAIN!!!!

Private Investigators UK : The UK Private Investigators and Detectives : Private Investigators Kent, tunbridge Wells Private Investigators and detectives: Private Investigators and detectives London : Private Investigators Tunbridge Wells : Private I

Dropped this morning - any ideas?

Regards

Tim Burchell

[Dubbya]

Holy, repetitive meta tags, Batman!!!

Clearly, this would be seen as SE spam and it stands to reason that your results would plummet. Honestly globalpi007, what were you expecting would happen???

It's time to "clean house" in the head of your document. Use standard meta tags within reasonable boundaries and you'll do much better.

Here's a link to a pretty decent guide to writing meta tags:
Top meta tag myths - an introduction to correct use of meta tags

<meta name="DC.Title" content="private investigators uk : Private Detectives UK : UK Private Investigators and Investigations - Private Investigators Kent - Tunbridge Wells - Missing Persons UK">
<meta name="copyright" content="Private Investigators UK : UK Private Investigators">
<meta name="updated" content="Daily">
<meta name="distribution" content="Global">
<meta name="search engines" content="Google, AltaVista, AOL, Yahoo, WebCrawler, Infoseek, Excite, Hotbot, Lycos, Magellan, LookSmart, UkIndex, CNET,
UKDirectory, MSN">
<meta name="robots" content="follow">
<meta name="robots" content="index">
<meta name="rating" content="Safe For Children">
<meta name="revisit" content="Daily">
<meta name="DC.Contributors" content="private investigators uk, UK Private Investigators - Kent private Investigators, Missing Persons UK">
<meta name="DC.Coverage.PlaceName" content="london, uk, private investigators uk, europe, california, texas, florida, iowa, nebraska, new york, hawaii, st.louis, russia, moscow,
south america, indiana, india, france, italy, germany, spain, usa, the netherlands, malta">

<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Private Investigators uk, Discreet Service, UK Private Investigators, Missing Persons UK, pay only for results, legal, law,
investigations, private investigators uk">
<meta name="DC.Description" content="Private Investigators uk, Pay only for results! We carry out Private Investigations all over The World. Missing Persons
located, surveillance, corporate due diligence, mystery shopping (test purchase) and many other Private Investigations at www.ukprivateinvestigators.com.">
<meta name="DC.Language" content="EN">
<meta name="DC.Publisher" content="private investigators london, private detectives uk, private investigations uk, private detectives tunbridge wells, process serving uk, private detectives england, private investigators england, private investigators tunbridge wells: private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators UK, UK Private Investigators, Global Investigation Service">
<meta name="DC.Subject" content="private investigators london, private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, private investigators sussex, private investigators brighton, private
investigators kent, private investigators surrey, private investigators london, private investigators surrey, private investigators sussex, private investigators brighton,
private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators based in The UK covering Private Investigations all over The World.">
<meta name="author" content="SHEAKOS Design 2001">
<meta name="description" content="private investigators london, surveillance uk, matrimonial surveillance uk, missing persons uk, find a person, missing uk, surveillanve investigators, private investigators kent, private detectives uk, private detectives uk, private investigations uk, private detectives tunbridge wells, process serving uk, private detectives england, private investigators england, private investigators tunbridge wells: private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators UK, UK Private Investigators, Global Investigation Service, private investigators tunbridge wells, uk, private investigators
kent, private investigators london, uk, uk
private investigators, private investigators london, uk, private investigators surrey, private investigators kent, private investigators london, private investigators surrey, private investigators sussex, private investigators brighton, UK private investigators, private investigators kent, private investigators uk, private detectives uk, private investigators london, private
investigators
tunbridge wells, private investigators sussex, private investigators, private investigators detectives in the UK, private investigators, private detectives uk, uk based private investigations and investigators,
private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators based in The UK covering Private Investigations all over The World, Discreet and Effective UK private investigators - private investigators uk - National and International Private Investigations, private investigators london, private investigators surrey, private
investigators sussex, private investigators brighton, private investigators kent, private investigators sussex">
<meta name="keywords" content="UK private investigators, private investigators kent, private detectives uk, private detectives kent, private investigators london, private detectives uk, private investigations uk, private detectives tunbridge wells, process serving uk, private detectives england, private investigators england, private investigators tunbridge wells: private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators UK, UK Private Investigators, Global Investigation Service, Discreet
Private Investigations UK, private investigators kent, private detectives
kent, uk private detectives, surveillance, matrimonial, kent, uk, england, surrey, private detectives matrimonial uk, private investigators uk, private investigators kent, private investigators uk, private detectives uk, private investigators london, private investigators tunbridge wells, private investigators sussex, private investigators, private investigators detectives
in the UK, private investigators,
private detectives uk, uk based private investigations and investigators">

[thindenim]

wow! That's the biggest spamming in meta tags I've ever seen! I think we have found the problem...

[weslinda]

Ever meet that guy at the local chamber of commerce meeting that won't shut up about how good of a "fill in the blank" he his?

Google is hearing the same thing from you. Stop shouting, and simply develop your site in a quality manner, on topic and it will be rewarded.

When it comes to page content, less is more. I promise.

Outside of the meta information noted above, you should fix the 100+ errors in coding on your page. Impressive with how small of a home page it is.

[globalpi007]

Ok, thanks guys - tags trimmed now but how do I fix the errors?

Regards,

Tim

[mjtaylor]

Tags trimmed? This is what I see now:

<title>Private Investigators UK : The UK Private Investigators and Detectives : Private Investigators Kent, tunbridge Wells Private Investigators and detectives:</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheets/ukpi-default.css" type="text/css">
<meta name="DC.Title" content="private investigators uk : Private Detectives UK : UK Private Investigators and Investigations - Private Investigators Kent - Tunbridge Wells - Missing Persons UK">
<meta name="copyright" content="Private Investigators UK : UK Private Investigators">
<meta name="updated" content="Daily">
<meta name="distribution" content="Global">
<meta name="search engines" content="Google, AltaVista, AOL, Yahoo, WebCrawler, Infoseek, Excite, Hotbot, Lycos, Magellan, LookSmart, UkIndex, CNET,
UKDirectory, MSN">
<meta name="robots" content="follow">
<meta name="robots" content="index">
<meta name="rating" content="Safe For Children">
<meta name="revisit" content="Daily">
<meta name="DC.Contributors" content="private investigators uk, UK Private Investigators - Kent private Investigators, Missing Persons UK">
<meta name="DC.Coverage.PlaceName" content="london, uk, private investigators uk, europe, california, texas, florida, iowa, nebraska, new york, hawaii, st.louis, russia, moscow,
south america, indiana, india, france, italy, germany, spain, usa, the netherlands, malta">
<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Private Investigators uk, Discreet Service, UK Private Investigators, Missing Persons UK, pay only for results, legal, law,
investigations, private investigators uk">
<meta name="DC.Description" content="We carry out Private Investigations all over The World. Missing Persons
located, surveillance, corporate due diligence, mystery shopping (test purchase) and many other Private Investigations at www.ukprivateinvestigators.com.">
<meta name="DC.Language" content="EN">
<meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Private Investigators based in The UK covering Private Investigations all over The World.">
<meta name="author" content="SHEAKOS Design 2001">
<meta name="description" content="We carry out Private Investigations all over The World. Missing Persons
located, surveillance, corporate due diligence, mystery shopping (test purchase) and many other Private Investigations at www.ukprivateinvestigators.com.">
<meta name="keywords" content="UK private investigators, private investigators kent, private detectives uk, private detectives kent, private investigators london, private detectives uk, private investigations uk, private detectives tunbridge wells, process serving uk, private detectives england, private investigators england, private investigators tunbridge wells: private investigators kent, private investigators surrey, Private Investigators UK, UK Private Investigators, Global Investigation Service, Discreet
Private Investigations UK, private investigators kent, private detectives
kent, uk private detectives, surveillance, matrimonial, kent, uk, england, surrey, private detectives matrimonial uk, private investigators uk, private investigators kent, private investigators uk, private detectives uk, private investigators london, private investigators tunbridge wells, private investigators sussex, private investigators, private investigators detectives
in the UK, private investigators,
private detectives uk, uk based private investigations and investigators">

I think you might have some more trimming to do ...

[dux]

You still have too many meta tags on your home page and your title tag is way too long - people say 60 - 100 characters max.

Try this page Meta Tags Explained for a guide on the meta tags to use

Most search engines ignore the keywords tag, so don't overdo it - 25 words max and don't repeat any word.

The most important meta tag is the description tag - make it keyword rich and keep it fairly short.

Rebuild the site using css - this would really clean the code up

Add meta description tags that are relevant to the page content - you have some pages that don't have them

Don't use Namo! I used a few years ago at work and found it a complete waste of time. Dreamweaver is the best software to use.

Apply the same principles to every page of your website.

Do you do maintain the site yourself?

[globalpi007]

I do maintain the site - I need some pointers here I think. The only confusing thing is the fact that the site has been fine on Google, as it stands, for years! I have emailed Google three times and still have not had a response.......

Tim

[dux]

Tim, everything changes. Just because the site has been working well for years doesn't mean it always will. Don't bother emailing Google, you are wasting the time you should be using to clean up your website. Start with the home page. Do you know how to code in CSS?

[globalpi007]

hi Dux,

I am afraid I dont!

Tim

[dux]

Tim,

Your thread starts with the letter you got back from Google, but what exactly have you lost in terms of rankings and how long as this been for? Can I assume that you are no longer getting any enquiries?

If you don't know CSS at least sort out the meta tags. Most websites will only use the following meta tags - description and keywords.

Do you understand the code of the website? I notice the author was "SHEAKOS Design 2001" - have you lost touch with that company now?

[globalpi007]

Dux,

Yesterday morning at 07.00 GMT i checked the site - it was ranked No2 ( private investigators uk) - an hour later it was GONE! I have searched google using the URL and it is nowhere on the listings!! Sheakos are no longer trading and yes, ALL enquiries have stopped!!

Tim

[dux]

Tim,

What happened before that? To prompt the email to Google?

[globalpi007]

The first email - opening this thread was sent when this happened last time - eventually the site was relisted as before.

Tim

[dux]

Tim,

If you give me ftp access to your site I will clean up the meta tags of the home page for you. I would also suggest making the title tag shorter (which I can do as well). I know you don't know me and security is an issue, so think about your passwords (you can change it before or after). If you are happy doing ftp yourself I can send you the page and you can ulpload it.

Your email address is globalpi@ukprivateinvestigators.com If you agree I will email you.

[weslinda]

Tim,

In the long run, if this is your business and this is your key way of bringing in income, then hiring a professional to do a full overhaul would be your best course of action.

There are a number of solid designers and specialists on this site, of course, one knowing the full scope of not only quality design using CSS but also the keys to quality SEO would be your best bet.

Reminds me of the old story about an Engineer for a large manufacturer that had retired. There was a major issue with their system and no one on staff could figure out the problem, costing them thousands every day. Finally someone called the retired engineer to come and review the problem.

He agreed, came in and make a small tweak with a hammer to a particular section of pipe on the machine. He then sent them a bill for something like $50,000.00. The company was furious and demanding an accounting for the fee. He had two line items.

Cost of Repair: $20
Knowing Where To Swing The Hammer: $49,980.00

End result? He was paid his money.

Having a partner that knows what they are doing is the most critical part to your long term succcess. Don't skimp on those that you work with when it comes to your business.

[mjancosek]

weslinda,
I could have not said it better. Being in the SEO field I hear that SEO/Internet marketing is a scam. The comment I love is "Why should I pay that, I could do that all myself".

Then you wait a couple of months then they call back and agree to pay for your services. I love it when I can show my client's how the site is generating visitors and their online orders have tripled. Then you can actually see them thinking about how much revenue was lost due to them waiting.

I keep telling them it is worth the investment.

Back to topic - globalpi what were you thinking? You had more meta tags than content...lol. Stop trying to beat the system and work with it...The results will make you happy and last longer.

[weslinda]

One thing that I notice many people aren't saying is that the site should be built for visitors. Not the search engines alone, and this page screams search engines alone.

Build it properly, for visitors, and the search results will come.